Saturday, July 11, 2009

Michael Jackson accuser admits lying?

Jordan Chandler, the then-13 year old who accused Michael Jackson of molesting him in 1993 and settled for $22 million, has, according to several small-change blogs, admitted to lying at the behest of his father at the time in order to extort money from Jackson.

Now I have not seen this yet reported on any reputable source such as CNN, the AP, the New York Times or even TMZ or Perez Hilton; so I don't quite believe it yet as I've got to assume at least the latter two would be all over the mere whiff of such a story. However - should it prove true, then I think we might need to start considering that we all (myself included) owe Michael Jackson, and/or those living on in his name, a big apology.

Now to clarify - I never, ever felt MJ victimized children IN A PREDATORY, GROWN UP, PEDOPHILE-esque way. He was the very definition, to me, of 'not a monster, but very, very sick'. And I still stand by it was not particularly bright of him, in the face of allegations which may or may not becoming to light as false, to continue with such close friendships with young boys. I believe his way of relating to them, when he is in fact if not in theory a grown man, was inappropriate. However I have always believed - whether it stopped at 'slumber party-esque' sharing of room and bed, or went further - that in his mind, as we see what he was accused of as evil, and as a 30-40-50 year old man preying on young boys, he saw it as playing with his friends, as he would have liked to have done at their age. But that is not to say it should have continued, and that's not to say the parents of children associated with MJ should have been so naive as to leave him alone with them.

And obviously in hindsight, they weren't; they were in fact quite calculating and unscrupulous, seeking to take advantage of a naive, childish boy-man who just happened to be ridiculously talented and ludicrously rich. Shame ... shame for using your children, and their friend Michael, in such a way. While I am not impressed whatsoever with Jordan Chandler's actions as a young man, if this story is true, I am impressed at his courage to come forward now, particularly at such a difficult time, and I simply hope that the other main victim - the accuser in Jackson's 2003-04 criminal trial, might now come forward to say the same, if true, and we can truly let this man rest, and find the peace in death that we so viciously denied him in life.